Thread: Cross hatched embossed strop

I recently purchased several stops from eBay. This one has be stumped. It is not smooth it is textured, the 5th picture hopefully shows the texture. I have done some cleaning, glued down a nick and added neatsfoot oil to it. The strop is just under 1/4 inch thick (.6mm). The texture hopefully shows in photo 5 and the flex in photo 6. What is the purpose of the texture?